1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of dispensing and more specifically relates to the regulated dispensing of toothpaste from a tube.
2. Background Art
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene by removing dental plaque and food from the teeth. Toothpaste is used by most individuals on a daily basis to clean and protect teeth from damage. Toothpaste is commonly sold in flexible tubes or rigid containers. Flexible tubes may be squeezed to extract toothpaste onto a toothbrush. The rigid container type is designed to stand upright to save shelf space. In these versions of containment, toothpaste may be frequently wasted due to dispensing a larger amount than required as well as the inability to completely deplete toothpaste from the containers using present manual and automatic dispensing methods.
Tubes have a tendency to not fully prevent backward flow of the toothpaste; therefore the task of completely removing all contents from the tube may be a difficult one, especially at the front of the tube. Further, toothpaste tubes may become germ infested if not stored up and away from unclean surfaces found in bathrooms. Problems such as waste may also be encountered, especially when children are left to dispense toothpaste onto a brush. Examples of attempts to solve the mentioned problems may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,501,369 and 5,897,030.
Automatic toothpaste dispensers or toothpaste pumps are devices that may be used to contain and dispense toothpaste, similar to a tube. Unlike a tube, they are made of rigid plastic and function by pressing a knob on the top rather than squeezing the tube. These dispensers may allow toothpaste to dry and are difficult to keep clean. Further, because of the pumping action used it is difficult to get an accurate amount of toothpaste onto the toothbrush to avoid wasting the product.
Many times it is difficult to get children to consistently brush their teeth at multiple intervals during the day. Present alternatives may not provide entertaining gratification for youngsters to entice them to remember to brush their teeth. Toothpaste dispensers may be awkward to use and may require two hands to operate.
Ideally, a toothpaste dispenser should be user-friendly, fun to use, operate reliably to fully dispense toothpaste contents and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a toothpaste dispenser that is operated with a single hand to avoid the above-mentioned problems.